View Single Post
Old 12-26-2009, 06:42 PM   #3 (permalink)
treebeard55
 
treebeard55's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Warsaw IN, USA USDA zone 5b
Posts: 510
Welcome to the forum, Sruhl.

The mudroom where I had my serissa is unheated, but still traps some heat seeping from the rest of the house; this in addition to blocking wind, snow, falling twigs, etc. It has two windows, one facing south, the other west.

The tree was closer to the south window, but still getting limited light. Temperatures in there fluctuate, but the average was warm enough that the tree was still growing slowly -- and getting leggy!

A few days ago I decided to move it outside, under the shelter that houses my hardy trees for the winter. The covering is a Du Pont product called "Garden Blanket" (TM?) which is supposed to give 7 degrees of frost protection, besides blocking most of the force of the wind. The back yard is already well protected from wind, so the trees get gentle air movement around them from time to time, and that's all.

I checked it a little while ago, and it looks fine; no leaf loss yet. I plan to leave it out there until lows start getting down to 10-12 F; by then I hope to have a better spot ready back in the mudroom. It's a gamble, I realize.

Here's a picture of the shelter, and of the serissa as of about an hour ago.
Attached Images
File Type: jpg BV Winterquarters 002.jpg (88.1 KB, 14 views)
File Type: jpg B096, 12-26-09.jpg (94.2 KB, 26 views)
__________________
Treebeard 55
Steve Moore

http://hoosierbonsai.blogspot.com

The most important bonsai tool is your brain.
treebeard55 is offline   Reply With Quote